Tuesday, February 25, 2014

I’m all about simply prepared vegetables, but every once in
a while I need to cover them in caramelized pork and cheese, and this
stunningly delicious pancetta-wrapped leek gratin was one of those times. I love those times.

This “umami bomb” is so flavorful and satisfying, it almost
seems disrespectful to serve it as a side dish. Pair this with a slice of
buttered bread, hedge your bets with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and enjoy a truly
special lunch.

For extra credit, after you finish your meal, call your best
French friend and describe what you had. They will love and hate you for it.
So, whether you make this for lunch, or use it to upstage a steak or grilled
piece of salmon, I hope you give this great leek gratin a try soon. Enjoy!

I have to say it : that looooooks soooo gooooood! Because of the bacon, my boyfriend is going to like this, and because of the cheese, my daughter is gonna love this and because it is a vegetable, I'm going to loooooove this too!!

But, if I may, Chef John, my best blogger ever, as a french canadian, this is my 2-cents with the pronounciation of "gratin". See, it's more like gratin than graton : like if you say stainless but you don't say the "s" nor the "less", you're going to be left with a perfect "tain" for gratin! Even more so if you tone down the "n" sound at the end. Voilà! Merci beaucoup for your recipe.

Chef, my local supermarket only had cubed pancetta. My plan is to sprinkle the pancetta on top of the cut side down leeks... Am I breaking too many rules or will this accomplish the same thing as your original recipe? The cubes are about the size of a pencil eraser.

I suspect many people will give this recipe a pass because leeks are a bit odd as far as some folks are concerned. DON'T DO IT. I made this the other night and it's fantastic; something about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. My wife was prepared not to like it, but she loved it. Highly recommended.

Greetings Chef, I'll be sure to give pancetta another try sometime. For ya' see, I once thought pancetta to be but fancy Italian baloney to be served up as is in a sandwich. And yes, it was gawd awful.

But in any event I ain't like that no more. I ain't the same, Chef. My finicky lady-friend,lord bless her heart, done straightened me up, cleared me of my drinkin' rum and all. I think about that sandwich now and again. That pancetta didn't do anything to deserve getting unceremoniously dumped into the trash, at least nothin' I could remember when I sobered up. Thanks Chef! You're da' best!

I used Aleppo chili flakes in lieu of Cayenne and after putting on the pancetta on the leek cut the leek into 2" chunks to make it easier to eat. Great recipe it was just a little too salty but tasted great.

Hi Chef John, I made this for a Thanksgiving party on the weekend (a first for me down under!) Everybody devoured it and it was just so delicious... think I'm making it for a simple dinner again tonight. Thank you so much for making me look awesome in front of my mates :-D

Chef John- I've made a bunch of your recipes but this was my first encounter with cooking leeks and I came away with a few questions. My leeks were a bit fibrous and pretty hard to cut after cooking, even with a steak knife - does that mean I should've cooked it longer or perhaps removed outer layers of leek before cooking? Though it did seem like it wasn't just the outer layers that were still a bit fibrous and hard to cut as they slid all over my plate-ha! I also found this to be extremely rich and my husband and I could only eat 1/2 leek each, though I did serve it with a small portion of pork loin. Should I have expected that with it being a gratin (hello,heavy cream!? Will other applications with leeks tend to be rich as well or is it considered a lighter type vegetable? Just haven't had any experience with them and didn't want to pass judgment too soon without asking. Thanks for the info!